Michael Clay Thompson has long argued that grammar is simple and beautiful. Once again he has proven it so with his book The Grammar of Literature.

This is the grammar component of the newest level of the MCT language arts curriculum. What is extraordinary about the book is not only its capacity to help students figure out complicated sentences like this one but also MCT’s introduction of a new "t-model" for picturing sentences.

This t-model exquisitely showcases one of the crucial parts of MCT’s genius: his ability to render complex grammar relationships as simple but beautiful illustrations. The t-model shows clearly the importance of subjects and verbs in relation to adjectives, adverbs, and other parts of the sentence; it visually emphasizes the dichotomy between subject and predicate; it visually clarifies the distinction between action verbs and linking verbs; it provides a simple, clear, and elegant visualization of phrases, particularly of verbal phrases. Its simplification of verbals will help many children master what continues to prove daunting to many parents and teachers.

The books in this level of the MCT curriculum focus on the vocabulary, grammar, writing, and poetic techniques of the authors of the great classics of English and American literature.

Michael Clay Thompson has long argued that grammar is simple and beautiful. Once again he has proven it so with his book The Grammar of Literature.

This is the grammar component of the newest level of the MCT language arts curriculum. What is extraordinary about the book is not only its capacity to help students figure out complicated sentences like this one but also MCT’s introduction of a new "t-model" for picturing sentences.

This t-model exquisitely showcases one of the crucial parts of MCT’s genius: his ability to render complex grammar relationships as simple but beautiful illustrations. The t-model shows clearly the importance of subjects and verbs in relation to adjectives, adverbs, and other parts of the sentence; it visually emphasizes the dichotomy between subject and predicate; it visually clarifies the distinction between action verbs and linking verbs; it provides a simple, clear, and elegant visualization of phrases, particularly of verbal phrases. Its simplification of verbals will help many children master what continues to prove daunting to many parents and teachers.

The books in this level of the MCT curriculum focus on the vocabulary, grammar, writing, and poetic techniques of the authors of the great classics of English and American literature.

Additional iBook Features: Interactive activities reinforce the lessons and allow students to self-check their knowledge.

The Vocabulary of Literature contains ten chapters that highlight the most frequently used words in the classics. Word challenges, grammar exercises, creative readings, biographies, and photographs of famous authors help students internalize these words and thereby pave a path to a lifetime’s enjoyment and love of great literature.

Each of the ten lessons presents ten new classic words and ten words brought forward from Caesar’s English I and Caesar’s English II, so students have 200 powerful words to learn and use. These are not words chosen arbitrarily for the purpose of a textbook; they are the words most frequently used in classic literature as identified by MCT’s painstaking research. They are, therefore, the words that Michael Clay Thompson believes “must be known as a necessary component of an educated vocabulary.”

The authors featured in this book are Jack London, Jane Austen, Stephen Crane, Mary Shelley, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot.

And because we love literature and visiting writers’ houses, we have included not only their portraits but also our photographs of where they wrote and with what, including Jane Austen’s tiny writing table and Dickens’s desk. Jane Austen’s house is featured on the cover of the student book; Rudyard Kipling’s house is on the teacher manual.

The Vocabulary of Literature contains ten chapters that highlight the most frequently used words in the classics. Word challenges, grammar exercises, creative readings, biographies, and photographs of famous authors help students internalize these words and thereby pave a path to a lifetime’s enjoyment and love of great literature.

Each of the ten lessons presents ten new classic words and ten words brought forward from Caesar’s English I and Caesar’s English II, so students have 200 powerful words to learn and use. These are not words chosen arbitrarily for the purpose of a textbook; they are the words most frequently used in classic literature as identified by MCT’s painstaking research. They are, therefore, the words that Michael Clay Thompson believes “must be known as a necessary component of an educated vocabulary.”

The authors featured in this book are Jack London, Jane Austen, Stephen Crane, Mary Shelley, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot.

And because we love literature and visiting writers’ houses, we have included not only their portraits but also our photographs of where they wrote and with what, including Jane Austen’s tiny writing table and Dickens’s desk. Jane Austen’s house is featured on the cover of the student book; Rudyard Kipling’s house is on the teacher manual.

Additional iBook Features: Interactive exercises include classic word challenges, exercises to identify the parts of speech of famous sentences, classic word muddles, highlighting mistakes that have been inserted into great works, and end-of-chapter quizzes. All allow students to self-check their work. The Implementation Manual contains a link to two review tests for this book (one mid-way through the unit and one after it is completed) that can be completed by students either digitally or by printing them and working on paper copies. The answers to the tests are only in the Implementation Manual for this iBook curriculum level.

The Writing of Literature is Michael Clay Thompson's seventh book about writing, but unlike the other six books, this one is about literary writing, focusing on the language of classic fiction and nonfiction. The other writing books are about formal academic writing: academic essays and research papers—the sort of nonfiction writing that all students must do in academic courses and in most professions.

Thompson writes in the introduction: "Our task is to see what writing secrets great novels can teach us about the kind of writing that we do and to absorb writing elements that help us become great readers.... Classic novelists show us deeper strategies that are not usually mentioned in school instructions for beginners. One reason the writers of immortal books are immortal is that they take commonly known writing techniques to uncommon heights, finding uncommon depth and beauty in the ways they use them."

It is important to note that this is a second edition, new as of January 2018. It reflects the current MLA guidelines, which are substantially changed from those that were in existence when the first edition was written. As a result of those changes, the information in the first edition is now wrong, and no one should continue to use the first edition.

The Writing of Literature is Michael Clay Thompson's seventh book about writing, but unlike the other six books, this one is about literary writing, focusing on the language of classic fiction and nonfiction. The other writing books are about formal academic writing: academic essays and research papers—the sort of nonfiction writing that all students must do in academic courses and in most professions.

Thompson writes in the introduction: "Our task is to see what writing secrets great novels can teach us about the kind of writing that we do and to absorb writing elements that help us become great readers.... Classic novelists show us deeper strategies that are not usually mentioned in school instructions for beginners. One reason the writers of immortal books are immortal is that they take commonly known writing techniques to uncommon heights, finding uncommon depth and beauty in the ways they use them."

It is important to note that this is a second edition, new as of January 2018. It reflects the current MLA guidelines, which are substantially changed from those that were in existence when the first edition was written. As a result of those changes, the information in the first edition is now wrong, and no one should continue to use the first edition.

Addition iBook Features: Interactive activities reinforce the lessons and allow students to self-check their knowledge.

The Poetry of Literature is unique among the poetics books written by Michael Clay Thompson. Unlike those, which naturally focus on the poetics of poetry, this book shows how the great novelists of English and American classics used poetic devices in their prose writing. Michael provides abundant examples of their use, many pulled from the novels in the trilogies of this curriculum. Among the devices he explores are how the novelists used silence, rhythm and meter, alliteration, assonance and consonance, and stopped consonants—all of which have been studied in the earlier poetics books: The Music of the Hemispheres, Building Poems, and A World of Poetry.

These concepts will come as no great surprise to any student who has completed the previous levels of the curriculum with the accompanying literary trilogies. But for anyone else, this book will be an eye-opening experience. The illustrations are full pages from the novels with the poetic devices highlighted. Seen in the context of a full page, it is readily apparent how easy it is for even careful readers to miss the poetics that are hidden in plain sight.

The poetics strand of the MCT language arts curriculum is one of its great strengths and a source of beauty and joy for many students. The Poetry of Literature is so powerful an addition to the poetics strand that every student should read it, even those who have finished the curriculum or who have advanced beyond this level. It is a book not to be missed—both by students and by parents.

The second edition of this book includes QR codes that link to audio of Michael reading the poems in the book.

The Poetry of Literature is unique among the poetics books written by Michael Clay Thompson. Unlike those, which naturally focus on the poetics of poetry, this book shows how the great novelists of English and American classics used poetic devices in their prose writing. Michael provides abundant examples of their use, many pulled from the novels in the trilogies of this curriculum. Among the devices he explores are how the novelists used silence, rhythm and meter, alliteration, assonance and consonance, and stopped consonants—all of which have been studied in the earlier poetics books: The Music of the Hemispheres, Building Poems, and A World of Poetry.

These concepts will come as no great surprise to any student who has completed the previous levels of the curriculum with the accompanying literary trilogies. But for anyone else, this book will be an eye-opening experience. The illustrations are full pages from the novels with the poetic devices highlighted. Seen in the context of a full page, it is readily apparent how easy it is for even careful readers to miss the poetics that are hidden in plain sight.

The poetics strand of the MCT language arts curriculum is one of its great strengths and a source of beauty and joy for many students. The Poetry of Literature is so powerful an addition to the poetics strand that every student should read it, even those who have finished the curriculum or who have advanced beyond this level. It is a book not to be missed—both by students and by teachers.

The second edition of this book includes QR codes that link to audio of Michael reading the poems in the book.

Additional iBook Features: The iBook, which is in gorgeous full color, contains several audio files that allow students to hear the voice of Michael Clay Thompson as he recites the poems that appear in the book and that were written by the featured novelists. It also contains practice pages to allow students to identify for themselves the poetic elements in the pages of several famous novels. The answers to the practice exercises are only in the Implementation Manual for this iBook curriculum level.

4Practice for Literature is a supplement toThe Grammar of Literature and is the practice workbook for the literature level of the MCT language arts curriculum. Its aim is to improve students' grammar and writing skills through analysis of sentences written by many of the greatest authors of English and American literature. Students work through the sentences using the unique four-level analysis method that is introduced in The Grammar of Literature.

Each of the one hundred sentences appears on a separate page with four blank lines beneath it where students can fill in the parts of speech, the parts of the sentence, phrases, and clauses. By examining a wide range of sentences, students will experience the satisfaction of a clear understanding of the principles of English sentences.

This useful workbook is meant to be consumable and is therefore offered at a low cost.

4Practice for Literature is a supplement toThe Grammar of Literature and is the practice workbook for the literature level of the MCT language arts curriculum. Its aim is to improve students' grammar and writing skills through analysis of sentences written by many of the greatest authors of English and American literature. Students work through the sentences using the unique four-level analysis method that is introduced in The Grammar of Literature.

Each of the one hundred sentences appears on a separate page with four blank lines beneath it where students can fill in the parts of speech, the parts of the sentence, phrases, and clauses. By examining a wide range of sentences, students will experience the satisfaction of a clear understanding of the principles of English sentences.

This useful workbook is meant to be consumable and is therefore offered at a low cost.

The practice books have class set prices depending upon the quantity ordered; schools and school districts can combine orders of the practice books for maximum discount:

Any mix of practice books can be ordered. Please note that in most cases, the shopping cart will not show the actual discount; this will be applied when you are billed, and no matter what the shopping cart says, you will never be billed or charged at a higher rate than that to which you are entitled.

Additional iBook Features: The one hundred interactive sentences have boxes below the four lines where students can type in the parts of speech, the parts of the sentence, the phrases, and the clauses that are in each sentence. Students can then self-check their answers with the check button, which also reveals comments about the grammar, vocabulary, poetics, and writing of each sentence. Because all the answers are available in the iBook version, no teacher manual is required.